HORSESHOE CRAB PUBLIC MEETING SEPT. 25

September 11, 1998

For more information contact:
Bruce Freeman at 609-292-2083

The New Jersey Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (commission) will host a public meeting on horseshoe crabs Friday, September 25 at 6:30 p.m. in Cape May County. The meeting will introduce the commission's Draft Horseshoe Crab Fishery Management Plan for public review and comment.

The plan will address the status of the horseshoe crab population; the importance of horseshoe crabs to the commercial fishery, medical industry and coastal ecosystem; proposed management options; and proposed research and monitoring programs. Development of the document began last November when Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia agreed to commit the necessary resources to complete a management plan that would address horseshoe crab harvest impacts and effects on other dependent species, particularly migratory shorebirds.

The meeting will be held at the Cooperative Extension Office, 355 Courthouse-South Dennis Road in Cape May Courthouse. For a copy of the draft plan, call Heidi Timer at 202-289-6400.